The Status Report

 

Things are mostly going well here.  Husbandman describes the pain as "stiff, sore, stinging," but mostly "not that bad." He has a follow up appointment in 8 days.  

A big drawback right now for me is the school system's decision to go back to school face to face on Monday.  I was hoping I could get the vaccine before going back into 3rdLand in real life. I wanted to stay with the online teaching because it makes most sense to me right now.  Corona stats are trending downward in our county, so I guess I should resolve to do my best and forget the rest.  But COVID is freaking me out.  I have to be honest about that.

It's time to think about a sankalpa for 2021.  I had two in 2020.  

* I'm open and in motion.

* This body is precious and whole and good.

These sentences got me started most days with reminders to take the next right thought and action and also to be respectful of myself and others.  Not sure yet what I'll come up with, but I'll keep you posted. 

The New Knee

Foto Credit:  Joy Heffernan, my big sister, ace photographer

We're doing well.  Husbandman had a total knee replacement yesterday.  The pain hasn't arrived yet because of some substance that was injected into his leg, but we've been assured that it will arrive soon and to "stay on top of it."  It's like being in a scary movie, waiting for horror, knowing it's lurking close by, unable to do anything about it.

On the good side, the surgeon felt that the operation went GREAT.  He reported with a huge smile that Husbandman's knee was "wrecked---no cartilage, no ACL, big bone spurs...WRECKED!"  He seemed pleased that he got rid of the old cruddy knee and has installed the titanium newness. 

Husbandman and I looked over many photos of knee replacements.  Pretty neat stuff.  

 

The Name

 This morning, Husbandman and I went out to Forest Canyon Preserve for a walkabout.  We saw icicles as well as redheaded woodpeckers, bluebirds, and perhaps a white crowned sparrow or two.  

This will be our final hike for awhile. As you know, Husbandman is having his knee totally replaced tomorrow.  

The Forest Canyon Preserve used to be called Dilcher Turner Canyon Preserve.  The name was changed because Rudolph Turner stole some artifacts from this land that belonged to the Miami Tribe. That was unacceptable.  

Mr. Turner died 2 years ago.  He actually looked like a pretty nice man in his photos, but we still need the artifacts returned.  An article I read said the artifacts were stored away.  Where?  If someone could let me know, I'd happily drive the artifacts to Oklahoma to return them to their owners. 

The Contact

 

Happy Christmas to anyone who's out there reading this message. Do you read me?  This is 706 saying Happy Christmas. Do you read me?

I feel like George Clooney in his latest movie The Night Sky which is streaming right now on Netflix.  Alone in an abandoned space science station somewhere in the Arctic, Clooney tries to communicate with  a crew of astronauts on a space ship returning from Jupiter to tell them that the earth is now uninhabitable.  He urges them to turn the ship around and to find a better place to live.  

We've received a few messages today from the outside world and we've sent a few, so our situation is not exactly like the George Clooney movie.  People know we're here and we will see them again at some point in time.  

The long and the short of it is... We wish any one who is out there who gets this message a very merry time today full of all the cheer you can muster. 

The Rambling Ranting

 I keep reading that once the pandemic is over, life will not go back to "normal," and nothing will ever be the same again.  WTH?

Even today I read that the pandemic is helping schools to do things differently and schools are learning how to re-shape teaching in the future.  Right.

Maybe I'm wrong and we're in for a new upside down or sideways kind of world by fall of next year.  Schools will be drop in, come as you are types of places, where curriculum is slower and there's little pressure to prepare kids for standardized tests.  I'm for it, but I highly doubt it's going to play out that way.

Why am I even thinking about this?  Who cares anyway??? This pandemic is grouching me out today.  I like quiet time, but I wish we were frolicking with our family.  Bleh.

 A winter walk followed by hot toddies by the fire might be just the ticket for jollying up this quiet Christmas Eve. On it. 

The Best

 

Last night, Tayshia chose Zac.  She said, "I'm living my best life." 

Who wouldn't be?  Living in a resort for a few months, every thing you need being provided to you?  Her family was able to visit and they were given their own suite as well. Their own suite.  They didn't have to stay with her during the visit.  The only snag I see would be dealing with the crazy bachelors vying for attention day in and day out. But in the end, Tayshia and Zac found true love. We wish them well.

I've got to say I'm enjoying my time at home.  It's quiet and there are no expectations that I will do much of anything.  

After 2 days of lounging, I made a new goal yesterday which was to avoid the couch at all cost.  If I get on the couch, I find I'm stuck there for a shockingly long time.  Yesterday I succeeded at my goal and did a cheerful amount of puttering and pondering. I almost sat on the couch today, but then I thought better of it. Instead I had a cup of tea and wrote in my notebook.  Like Tayshia, I too am living my best life.  I'm relaxing while at the same time feeling proud about achieving daily goals.

The Knee

We're one week away from knee replacement surgery for Husbandman. 

Even though the knee is the largest joint in the human body, knee replacement surgery is not one of the top 5 most painful surgeries.  Sure, it's painful, but it doesn't even make it into the top 5. 

This afternoon we're going to enjoy purchasing a walker for Husbandman.  I know he won't get the high end walkers that I prefer, so I'm trying to keep my expectations low about this outing, which is undoubtedly going to end with some disappointment on my end. 

The Lights

 I want to recognize and celebrate all those merry-makers that display festive holiday lights and seasonal yard decor.   A big shout out to Ellettsville.  Impressive displays, Ellettsville residents.  Keep up the good work.  

We plan to do more research before our next self guided lights of the season car tour.  If there are any award winning displays in your neighborhood, please let us know. 

The Staycation

 Now we are on winter break. Usually right about now I'd be packing up for a long trip to visit family who live afar.  It's a relaxing rarity to have no looming tasks, but I'm not going to lie.  There's something a wee bit sad about it too. No visit to see my Dad or my sibs or 30Something or #1.  Tomorrow, I'm going to make a Jolly-It-Up list of simple low energy activities for staying chipper.  

For right now,  I need to remember that I started a 2 week vacation a few hours ago and in the big scheme of things, I'm AOK.  

 

The Vaccine Day

The vaccines are being delivered right now, Friends!  

Soon we'll get our vaccines and start living again.  

It's happening.

Celebrate that glimmer of light and hope by having something super cold.  A bowl of ice cream or a scotch on the rocks or even both.  Get pumped!

 

The Day of the Cranes

 

December 13 shall forever more be called The Day of the Cranes.

To celebrate Day of the Cranes we will typically start with a drive to Goose Pond.  As we drive, I will more than likely engage in a one hour rant about several issues in my life that are stressing me out and causing me to seethe with palpable anger.  Husbandman will listen actively and chime in on occasion with remarks of agreement. 

Once we get to Goose Pond, we'll find the sandhill cranes. We'll watch them digging in the cornfield.  We'll watch them soaring overhead.  We'll listen to their crazy calls.  We'll then spend a few hours searching for the Whooping Cranes and if we find some, so be it.  If not, we'll be okay about that because the sandhills are remarkable.

We'll always bring lunch from 2 Sticks Bakery. 

Before we depart, we'll thank the cranes for turning our sour moods into feel good moments by adopting sun salutation poses before we hop in the car for our drive back to B-Town.

Please join us in 2021 when we next celebrate The Day of the Cranes. Husbandman doesn't know about the Sun Salutation aspect of this celebration yet, but I'm pretty sure he's in like Flynn.  

The Stream

 

This will be a stream of consciousness blog entry, written quickly not thoughtfully.  On Wednesday of this week we went back to online teaching.  Relief.  I'm teaching from home and yesterday I was online with 3rdLanders in big groups and small.  All showed up for class.  All but a few finished assignments.  They wrote about fossils and discussed a chapter book and took notes as I transferred amounts of water from one container to the next, recording volumes in metric measurements.  

My dad's not well.  He had a procedure on Friday and now he can't move his legs.  Bedridden.  Maybe his body will bounce back after a few days.  He retains his sense of humor and he is not in any pain, but he's not feeling great.  So, that's horrible.

Today we're driving to Goose Pond to look for the sandhill cranes and any other birds that feel like appearing.  It's a stream of good and bad things right now and I'm trying to pay attention to all of it. 

The Return

 

Back from New Orleans.   Crossing my fingers that I didn't contract the virus down there.  

I can worry about the virus, or I can keep calm and carry on.  

Highlights from the trip: EVERYTHING.

#1 Son is doing great and so is Rachel.  June and HeMan seemed to remember us and gave us a good bit of positive attention. 

We saw pelicans and swans and ibises and wood ducks and cranes and masses of swallows swarming over the bayou boardwalk.  

Now we're home.  Ready to re-commit to the education of American's youth. 

The Trip

 We have a trip planned to New Orleans next week.  We've cancelled so many trips this year.  I am choosing to go to New Orleans.  We can be outside most of the time with the nice weather.  We can take drives and walk along levees.  We can talk with Quinn and Rachel from a distance of six feet. We're going.  You just need to accept it and please stop telling me that I shouldn't go.

The Switcheroo?

 Did you ever wake up and get dressed and then feel like you don't want to be wearing what you put on, but you're not sure you have time to change, so you keep wondering and the time keeps getting shorter and you're not sure what you're going to do?

The Clouds

 Marjory Wentworth wrote a poem about how how Billy Collins writes poems.  

She says that it's important to look at the smallest things.

We read Wentworth's poem and then we read Collins' poem called Student of Clouds.  It's about the artist John Constable who was great at painting clouds.  If you don't believe me, check it out.

Every Wednesday, we create Lynda Barry inspired self portraits.  Yesterday, we drew ourselves as clouds.  

We spend an important amount of time doodling and noodling around in Thirdland.

The Hating Day

 I hate Mike Pompeo.

The Election

 This is a joyful time.  

There are things to be nervous about, but for right now, I'm going to celebrate the President Elect and the new VP and the dancing in the streets and the people smiling and the happy crying and the camaraderie and the big rush of relief I feel with every breath.

The Woodpecker

 A Downy Woodpecker spends considerable time pecking holes into the side of our house.  3 holes so far.  He does it all day long. We run out and scare him off and then he comes back and pecks again.  It's freaking annoying.

It's also annoying waiting for election results.  Last night I could not sleep.  I try to stay optimistic, but 4 more years of this nonsense and I'll just go over the edge. 

In conclusion, I don't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but it probably would have been better if I was required to work at my job today.  I had fantasies of working on a paper and cleaning my house and taking a slog but mostly I'm walking around feeling annoyed with the world.  Election results should start being shared in about 4 hours.  I'm going to be patient and binge watch some reality television. 

The Halloween

 I kept a pretty good attitude during Halloween at school yesterday even though I'm not generally supportive of celebrating holidays at school.  Why can't people just dress up and eat candy at home? I'm not the most innovative teacher when it comes to school parties and seasonal celebrations. Though the 3rdLanders are always kind and polite, there's a sense at my parties of, "This is it?  This is the entire party?"  I can overhear kids sharing memories of former teachers who wore banana costumes or helped them make jack o'lantern totem poles or hosted an ice cream sundae buffet.

 I do feel bad that I'm not more festive, but all I can do is my best.  I'm forgetting the rest, until December arrives and the winter party rears its ugly head.

The Muting

Had a 3rdLander being extra chatty the morning after the 3rd and last debate.  I talked to the 3rdLander a few times during the day. To no avail.  Finally I chided the child with a stern tone, "You said you were going to get this under control."  

The 3rdLander reached up with an imaginary key and locked up their mouth.  They said, "I'm muted.  Just like the president."  

 

The Candidate

 

I encourage you to listen to the interview with Joe Biden on the Pod Save America podcast.  

Quite good.

I keep thinking about the moment in the debate when Joe referred to Trump as "Abe Lincoln."  

Also quite good. 

 

The Fall Flakiness

Evidence of individual flakiness on my part: First I told the Thirdlanders they couldn't bring costumes to school for our "Fall Party." Then I told them they could wear their costumes.  Complete 180.

Evidence of institutional flakiness:  After I asked an amazing parent to organize snack donations, I've now been told that snack donations will not be allowed. 

Lots of flakiness going into this Covid Holiday Time. And sure, part of it's on me.  I guess I just have to accept that this is a weird, flaky time. Let the chips fall where they may, so to speak. Let's remember that we can get through this together. 

 

The Prime

 It's time to head back to work, but the partying will not stop because ...

...today is Husbandman's birthday!  He's 61, which is a prime number. 1 x 61 = 61.

More celebration.  More cake and libations.  More singing and dancing in our kitchen. 20 Something is rigging up a disco ball kind of thing.  I even made a beautiful collage card for Husbandman.  He brings fun and love into my life every day, so why wouldn't I? 

The 60

 Happy Birthday to me.  I'm 60 years old.  

It's freaking exciting getting to live this long.  I'm kind of surprised by my astounding longevity, but mostly happy as a clam.  

Today will begin with report cards.  (Boo!  Hiss!)

Then with that chore behind us, we'll take a long walk along a trail somewhere, create some artworks, zoom with #1 son, and wrap up the day by partaking of the pumpkin pie that Husbandman made this morning.  

The birthday pumpkin pie is a fine tradition. 

On my birthday, I send out love to anyone and everyone.  Hope you all have 60 moments of fun today.  Or even 6. The point being, I hope you have fun. 

Here's my new favorite song:

The Zoo

Lots of good news going around right now.  We're on Fall Break and today we went to the zoo.  It's ZooBoo time right now, so most zoo visitors were in costume.  As 20 Something and I snacked on tangerines and watched the elephants, a young toy storied character stared at my tangerine and said, "It's not fair.  I never get any!" He folded his arms across and his chest.  Stuck out his lip.  The whole nine yards.  I offered him a tangerine section and he took it happily.  I thought his mother might be concerned.  Food from strangers and all that, but she found the whole scenario amusing.  I guess Halloween time is here and snack sharing is an important part of the festivities.  Happy to oblige, Kid.

 

The Vote

 I voted yesterday, for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.  As well as others.

There was a long line and I waited about an hour.  #20 Something stayed with me and we chatted.  

When I got to the door to enter, I asked the worker about the line.  She told me that the line has been long and constant since early voting opened up a week ago.  

That's the good news.  The bad news is there are still people trying to suppress our right to vote all over this godforsaken land.  

Who's going to win? 

The Jets

 We took some sandwiches to the lake yesterday. 

Chatted and checked out the foliage and the sailboats.

The jet skis, I've decided, are the enemy of the people and should be banned from public lands from this point forward. 

The Visitor

 #20Something's here!  

We're having fun, talking and talking and talking.

Walked a bit yesterday.  Saw foliage and this garter snake.  

The Symptom

 I had a massive headache all day yesterday.  Took ibuprofen at lunch and it went away for a short time.  When I returned home at 6:30, I took more ibuprofen and this time it stayed away for good.

Even though the headache dissipated, I still spent time researching headache as a symptom of covid.  13% of people who get the virus suffer from headache.

Luckily, I am fine now. 

The Snacks

 I went to MA's house after school yesterday to talk about a unit of study she's working on.  I love doing that kind of get together, where you chat about and plan curriculum.  And have great snacks.  And tea.  

The Math Video

 I made a little math video for the Thirdlanders yesterday where they could practice subtracting across zeroes.  

They could shut off the video, work the problem, then click back on and see how they did, as I solved the problem with vim and vigor.

Everyone seemed to be engaged and they solved along at their own pace and it was kind of pleasant.  

Muffo the Monster helped with the video.  All the math problems had to do with him borrowing money from me to buy various wheeled objects --- scooters, hover boards, roller blades.  He never pays me back. Muffo offered excuses and lame promises throughout the video, and I expressed annoyance and impatience.  The Thirdlanders spent time admonishing Muffo as they turned in their papers.  Fun times in Thirdland. 

The Magazines

 

I'm thinking about putting one magazine on each 3rdLander's desk this morning so we can start our day with some collaging.  Henceforth, all Mondays shall be Magazine Mondays.

The Preserve

Hiked at the Hitz-Rhodehamel Nature Preserve.  It's been there since 1985, but we only learned of it yesterday.  We're not sure how a 3 mile loop took us two hours to complete, but maybe that's part of the mystery of the Hitz Rhodehamel. We looked for the cerulean warbler, but no luck. 

The Fists

 There was talk at Morning Meeting about the President's health situation.  Some Thirdlanders were pumping their fists when they heard from classmates about this current event.  I felt it important to shut down the fist pumping, because it's not right to celebrate the misfortunes of others.  

One Thirdlander announced, "How do we know he's telling the truth?  He's probably lying.  That's all he does." I suggested we move on to other relevant topics. A Thirdlander volunteered to share a photo of her old dog wearing sunglasses which led to a deluge of anecdotes about pets and costumes, which probably sounds more interesting than it actually was.

I don't remember feeling this way about the president when I was in third grade.  It's a little bit sad.  

The Challenges

Sometimes I make up one minute challenges at recess for one of the Thirdlanders.  Run to the ladder.  Go across the monkey bars, down the slide, around that tree and back to me.  Stuff like that.  Yesterday more and more kids wanted in on the one minute challenges.  It was fun, but impossible to social distance.  So now I'm not going to do the one minute recess challenges any more. 

 

The Death

 Harriet the Tarantula died yesterday. She was 15 years old and should have lived to age 20, so I don't know what happened.  

The Astronauts

 From a Lynda Barry book, I've used the idea to have the Thirdlanders draw self portraits on occasion.  Draw yourself as Batman, a monster, an astronaut.

This week we drew ourselves as astronauts. The Thirdlanders were to write a few sentences about their most recent trip into space to go with their self portraits. 

Many asked me if their writing could be fake.  

I repeatedly responded to that question and even made general announcements to the class.  Even after the general announcement, a third lander raised her hand to say, "Can this be fake because I've never been in space before?"

"Yes, your writing about your space travels can be fictional," I told her.  The Thirdlanders have typical listening issues, but aside from that, they seem to have a tenuous grasp on reality that simultaneously concerns and cheers me . 

The Classroom

 I've been back in person with the Thirdlanders for 4 days, though it feels like much longer. 

Mask wearing is going well, social distancing less so.  

On Thursday, I gave directions for using the tablets to request library books from our awesome school library.

Many Thirdlanders had issues with the directions, but we were slowly getting there.  One patient gal waited quite a long while for assistance.  When I finally got to her, she said, "I've put in my username and password 5 times and it doesn't work.  I don't like to touch their stuff, but I typed in her information and the library catalog instantly popped into being.  I asked her what kind of books she wanted and she said, "Strega Nona books."  I told her to go ahead and type Strega Nona into the search box.  She looked worried and I asked her if she would like me to type the titles.  "Yes," she answered, "Because I don't know how to speak Italian."

So we're rolling along. So far no one seems to have covid and most of us are enjoying our time together.  Another Thirdlander said to me on her way out Friday, "This is going way better than I thought it would."  I'm still nervous about someone getting sick, but so far we're all in good shape.  They're a sweet crew and if we can stay healthy, all should be swell in Thirdhand. 

The Fun Factors

Room 200 has a ghost town feel to it.  All our tables have been taken away so now I stare out onto a sea of little empty desks, from a computer in the front. All day, I stare at a screen, but much of the day, I'm staring at the faces of Thirdlanders, hearing their stories, helping them with their assignments, teaching them about John Lewis and Audrey Faye Hendricks and the Young Hoosier Picture Book Awards and haiku and point of view and some math too. I feel I've actually come to know these people in this weird way. I imagine where they should sit when they get back to the classroom.  I know already the kid who will need to be in the back so he can pace around.  I know the gal who will need to be directly in front of me so I can remind her about what needs doing and give her extra encouragement. I know that one Thirdlander will need moments of extra quiet and the newest Thirdlander will need some extra friendly faces nearby.

I look forward to seeing them in person soon, but I'm nervous. In one week, we'll be back in the classroom. 19 Thirdlanders and me.  It's hard to figure out how six feet of social distance can occur when we're in the room.  I suppose I can just stay up in the front and not walk about.  The Thirdlanders will have to stay put in their little desks, so why should I be free to move?   I was asked if I'd like a plexiglass sheet to be hung in front of my computer area in the front of the room. I decided to pass on that, but maybe that was a mistake?  We're going to wear our masks.  We're going to use our tablets for some assignments. We're going to use alphabetical order for our line up spots.  We're going to go outside and not play soccer or football or four square. 

It might be safe, but will it be fun? With so many physical restrictions, I don't really get why people are so pumped up for this kind of school experience, but many are cheering the reopening.  I'll keep an open mind as I always do and find the ups along the way. What else can I do? My first goal is to keep us all out of the hospital. Everything else will fall in to place as we take one day at a time, do our best, and forget the rest.

 

The Distance

 

There are things that are not too bad about the distance learning gig.  I will discuss them thusly:

1.  When I work with a small group for 20 minutes, there are no interruptions.  We just work together and I don't have to yell out to anyone across the room to please get focused nor do I have to write a health pass because someone has an itchy bug bite on their leg nor do I have to answer urgent questions from Thirdlanders who just remembered something they need to ask me.

2.  In the afternoons, kids pop in on on our Teams Meeting to work on their haiku with me.  Sometimes they stay for a long time and we get a lot of haiku writing done.  Again, with no interruptions.  It feels so weird talking to one Thirdlander for 30 minutes about their work.  Usually I have about 2 minutes tops to work with a kiddo before moving on in a harried rush. One Thirdlander was stretching out her visit with me and when I said we had to wrap it up, she said, "But I just want to be with you."  Once again, bittersweetness rears its head. 

3.  Thirdlanders are making movies for some assignments.  And though I always groan a teeny bit when I see a movie's been submitted because the movies are time consuming to watch, I end up laughing or smiling 100% of the time when I watch these movies.  The Thirdlanders are super creative and sometimes their younger sibs or their pets make surprise appearances in their productions.

That's mostly what I like about the distance learning at this point in time.  There are definite down sides, but we'll ignore those for now.  The bottom line is...going the distance is hard on most everyone. I really feel bad for the parents who I can see are juggling so much.  

Here's a random tangential aside.  We went to TC Steele State Park yesterday.  They have a new visitor center and a new admission fee.  TC Steele has always been free, but I'm happy to throw some cash their way now.  That place always brings me cheer.  Come to find out, Husbandman qualified for the senior 60 discount.  Though I'm 59 for a few more months, Husbandman told the ranger that I was close to being 60 as well, so the ranger decided to give me the discount too.  My first discount for being old.  At first I wasn't too happy about Husbandman telling my age, but as we traversed the gardens, I came to look upon the two dollar discount in a positive light. 

The Inbox

 I was at school for a hella' long time today.  But the good news is I have 3 days of online lessons all good to go.  

While I was working, a message popped up in my learning platform inbox.  It was a Thirdlander.  He asked, "Hi Dr. H.  What's your favorite thing about being a teacher?"

Honestly, getting messages like this on a Sunday afternoon isn't really my favorite thing of all time, but I played along.  Told him some stuff and then asked what his favorite thing about being a student might be?

He wrote back right away, "My favorite part of being a student is getting to know stuff about my teachers." 

This Thirdlander is AOK in my book!

The Slack

 Look, Blog.  You're going to have to cut me some slack.  Let's lose the attitude.  Doing my best, forgetting the rest right now.  I'll be back soon.  For now, it's going to be a sentence here and a sentence there.  

The first 3 days of digital school went pretty well.  New Thirdlanders are good people.  

The Peachoid

Here are some facts about this fine water tower in Gaffney, South Carolina.  Photo credit goes to Rachel.  

The leaf on the water tower is an actual living plant.  

There's a small apartment in the base of the water tower that can be rented out as a vacation rental.

The peach tank holds one million gallons of water that is lightly flavored with peach juice.  

If you know of any other facts about this water tower, please share them in the comments. 

The Award

This is the collage I made.

Our roof is leaking.  Our water heater is broken.  We have an ant problem.  But let's focus today on some good news.  

Our school system has revised the re-entry plan.  School is delayed one week and we're going on line.  I'm not going to lie.  I feel safer. I don't like going in rooms with lots of people.  And I also don't like keeping distance from the Thirdlanders when I'm teaching.  I'm more of a "Huddle Up People!" kind of teacher.  And huddling with 21 kiddos equals covid.  That's just plain facts. Maybe.

I feel like I got the hang of teaching on our learning platform in spring, but come to find out, now I can't remember how to set up the pages.  I've watched unhelpful videos and I've felt unhelpful frustration. Eventually, as with the roof and the water heater, there will be fixing and falling into place.

And back to the good news:  Nate Powell, the artist who helped create the March books with John Lewis, lives in Bloomington, Indiana.  I just discovered this fact today from our beloved local rag.  I need to find Nate and talk to him about what he's up to these days. I'm hoping he can share some memories of his time with John Lewis.  I'd also like to get a glimpse of his National Book Award.   If you have Nate's address or phone number, please pass them on to me as soon as possible.

The Freemanville Water Tower

Gloria helped carry her uncle's telescoping ladder to the water tower.  It was midafternoon. Neighbors drove by and waved. Kelly waved back.  She loved this town.  People minded their own business. 

After stretching the ladder to its full length, Kelly began climbing. Gloria held it steady.  When she reached the tower's access ladder, Kelly pulled herself onto the first rung.  She could see the police car in the distance, so she hurried, climbing like the ladder was her natural habitat.   Gloria, hearing the siren, panicked.  She let Uncle Tim's ladder fall to the ground and took off running.  Kelly watched her sprint across the cemetery as the cop car parked below.  She continued climbing.

She was over half way to the catwalk when the cop yelled for her to come down.  Kelly just yelled back, "What?  I can't hear you.  I'm climbing the water tower.  My grandmother assisted with the design of this tower.  It's okay."  

For the next 30 rungs, the cop and Kelly repeated this exchange, him yelling for her to come down, her yelling back that she couldn't hear what he was saying.   In this way, she made it to the catwalk and took a victory lap around the perimeter of the tank. "Freemanville sure looks fine from up here," she mused as she circled her way back to the ladder.   She could see the cop below, leaning against his car.  Was he smoking a cigarette?  

Exhilarated, satisfied, she began her descent. She had climbed her grandmother's tower. She had seized the day. She had honored her unique, adventurous spirit.  

At the end of the access ladder, Kelly paused.  Without Uncle Tim's ladder, she would have at least a 20 foot drop.  She lowered herself and hung from her arms, taking a moment to gather her gumption.  

The cop walked beneath her and held up his taser.  "Don't tase me, Bro," Kelly yelled to him.  

"What?  I can't hear you," the cop replied, calmly blasting the taser upward.  

Handcuffed in the back of the squad car, Kelly looked out the window.  She was amazed that she wasn't more hurt. A broken foot wasn't a big deal.  She'd be fine.  She looked behind her and waved to her parents, following in their miniature van. They weren't smiling, but still, Kelly was grateful that Gloria had alerted them that their daughter might need some assistance over at the water tower. 

The Riders

We watched the John Lewis documentary last night.  Good Trouble.  I just love that title.  This morning I read some articles about the Freedom Riders.  There were only 13 Freedom Riders at first.  John Lewis was one of them.  They got beaten up a bunch of times. They were also thrown in jail. Their bus was bombed.  One of the Riders said that John got hurt many times by white thugs, but that he was incredibly strong and always stayed committed to non-violence.

I'm not sure about my strength.  I've got to work on that.  I want to be like the Freedom Riders.  I want to get into some good trouble this school year along with the new Thirdlanders.

The Family Tree

 I've been fooling around with some ancestry documents that my dad has collected over the years.  I'm trying to fill out a big family tree chart.  The tree is filled with laborers, a sea captain, a director of a minor league baseball team.  There's even a Minuteman on the tree. I think my favorite branch on the tree houses a comb maker.  Combs are helpful and some of the combs of yore were made of the bones of WHALES.